Shakan Pitters: from champ to top model

Shakan Pitters…proved a hit during London Fashion Week

FOR former British light-heavyweight champ Shakan Pitters – bright, articulate and burning with ambition – life outside the ring shines bright with opportunity.

The handsome Birmingham boxer has recently swapped the ring walk for the catwalk and is currently making waves as a model.

Signed with Emika Models agency, he turned heads during London Fashion Week.

He’s also at the forefront of a new dining experience, Luxe Brunch, which stages an event in Birmingham’s Chinatown on March 25.

Add to the hectic schedule daily visits to care homes where he takes residents through gentle exercises and you can see why the 33-year-old says: “I don’t need boxing.”

Yet the competitor inside the towering athlete yearns for further glory in the sport.

Shakan is scheduled to appear on a Sky Sports bill in Birmingham in May – his first outing since being outpointed by Dan Azeez, with the British title on the line, last September. No disgrace in that: Azeez is set to challenge for the European crown.

After that, he yearns for a return with Azeez or a fight with Lyndon Arthur, who bids to take the IBO world belt next month.

Shakan, son of a pro middleweight, has a far different mindset from the bright-eyed talent who took the Lonsdale Belt in only his 12th bout – winning almost every round in the run-up to claiming the crown.

He has now seen the sport from both sides. He has witnessed the good and the bad.

His promotional contract with Hennessy Sports has now ended by mutual agreement and there’s a sense Shakan is relieved that, as a free agent, he can speak his mind rather than err on the side of diplomacy.

And the Pitters of 2023 has a lot to say. His messages are free from rants and delivered with care. Each sentence is measured and picked over before being presented to the public.

“I can do much better,” he insisted, “I’m not happy because there is so much more to give. I’m 33, but I didn’t start boxing until I was 22 – most people start it different. I turned professional at 28. I believe I’ve got at least another five years.”

Pitters, who stands 6ft 6ins tall, has experienced the highs and lows. After taking the British title, he was tipped for very big things, but was stopped in his first defence by Craig Richards.

He showed a champion’s heart that night to climb off the canvas and take control before being felled in the ninth.

Shakan bounced back with three good wins – two by stoppage – before suffering the Azeez setback last September.

“I had been out of the ring for a year, I think that was Dan’s third,” he said. “We said we would like a six or eight rounder (before facing Azeez) and they said no. Sky stopped me and I understand that. They were protecting their fighter.”

Pitters, without the backing of a major promoter, is now on the outside looking in. “I don’t have a place to call home,” he shrugged.

Shakan celebrates another ring success

“As a professional fighter, you are a price tag. Everyone has to put money on the table, we are all price tags.

“In football, there is more financial structure. Why, in boxing, do you have to negotiate every fight deal? Shouldn’t there be a financial structure for British title fights, European title fights…?

The former talented footballer has a point.

Imagine the reaction from Manchester City’s collection of superstars if they were told: “It’s Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup next Saturday so we’re cutting your wages by half.”

“It is a business, a cut-throat business,” Shakan said. “There should be a structure which simply states, ‘that is what a fighter’s price tag is’.

“YouTube boxing – a lot of eight rounder boxers would take part because the money on the table is silly.

“I’m out in May and want to win in devastating fashion, put myself in the mix, get my name back out there.

“The hunger is still there. I’ve been ready to go for some time. I’d love to fight for the IBO or Dan Azeez again for the European. I’d entertain a British title fight again, but there are other titles out there.

If the grand boxing plans don’t come to pass, it’s not the end of Shakan’s cash dreams.

“I don’t need boxing,” he added. “There are other careers. I’ve started doing modelling now. Three hours, most days, I go into care homes and put them through exercises.”

After an audience with Shakan Pitters, it’s easy to believe the man will be top of his game for years to come. That game may not be boxing, however.

That’s because he’s a budding businessman with a lot of irons in the fire.